RedEye, a Chicago Tribune publication, earlier this week published a cover story titled “This is Latino Chicago,” a thorough, by-the-numbers snapshot of the impact Latinos have made on our city. “Latinos have driven Chicago’s population growth, stirred changes in the city’s neighborhoods, redirected marketing campaigns and changed the face of the city’s schools,” stated the article.
As a lifelong Chicagoan, I have witnessed these changes myself and seen the impact in different facets of my own life, including the workplace.
When I started out in PR, I was often the only Latino account person. Today, in our Chicago office, we have grown to five Latino account staff members – all young, highly-educated Latinas. This is important to acknowledge because as more Latinos enter the workforce they will increasingly make their mark on the workplace and the economy.
For example, the number of Latinos in management and professional occupations is increasing. In addition, Hispanic business ownership is growing three times as fast as the national average. Given the example of my own office, it should come as no surprise that more and more Hispanic business owners are women.
Research shows that diversity is good for the economy. A survey by the Society for Human Resource Management and Fortune magazine showed that 79 percent of HR professionals at Fortune 1,000 companies believe that diversity improves corporate culture and 52 percent believe it improves client relations.
Statistics aside, one of the most exciting things for me about the rise of Latinos entrepreneurs and professionals is the collaborative way we help each other to achieve success.
Arturo Rico, a construction company owner in North Carolina, told CNN that he encourages his employees to learn what they can from him, so that they can one day go into business for themselves. And here in Chicago, the Chicago Latino Network connects Hispanic professionals for networking and social events. Stories like this exist across the country and additional proof is the growing number of local Hispanic business chambers in the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce network.
Marketers interested in reaching Hispanic influencers should pay close attention to the millions of business owners and professionals among us.
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